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Life is difficult for an early adopter. Often times being on the cutting edge means sifting through a limited selection of products, all of which are overpriced and doomed to be obsolete within a calendar year. Remember the first DVD players? Remember the $500 Xbox One w/Kinect? A bleak picture indeed. Supply and demand dictates that where there is exclusivity, there will be a huge price to pay.

With that backdrop though, something amazing happened Monday at E3 2016… The Xbox One S was revealed. You may wonder what is so special about this, it’s just a half-cycle console refresh after all. Admittedly, I missed it as well. Microsoft chose not to magnify it. There hasn’t been much chatter about it thusfar online. So here it is…The One S plays 4k Blu-ray discs!

Hurry to your nearest google search bar and type 4k blu-ray player. At the time of this article you would get one viable result. The well received Samsung UBD-K8500. You’ll also see the price, $399. That’s right, a full $100 more than the base model Xbox One S, and the same price as the souped up 2TB launch edition One S, due to be released in early August. By sheer numbers crunching then, it’s difficult not to come to one drastic conclusion. EVERYONE who owns or is in the market for a 4k TV needs an Xbox One S.

That’s right, everyone. I would even go so far as to say even those who already own Xbox Ones should be in line to upgrade. Being able to stream Netflix 4k content native from the Xbox app will be a welcome addition. Even those who choose PlayStation in the console war should pick up the Slim as a second option. With no solid release date on the Neo, chances are there won’t be PlayStation 4k blu-ray playback for a year plus. Sounds like reason enough for even the Xbox haters to jump on board. For $299-$399 you get a top of the line 4k player, one of the best remotes on the market and by the way, a monster gaming machine. Microsoft seems to have hit all the right buttons with this one.

It will remain to be seen with the XBox One S through sales figures how well it is received. Not sure on percentage of gamers/movie watchers that would look at it as their first choice for their purchase; very interesting prospect that they announced a successor on the same show. I guess only time will tell.

Agreed, only time will tell. But currently, with only 2 options available, one being a standalone 4k bluray player and the other being the cheaper, all in one Slim, I would think people would gravitate towards the xbox.

Even more important that 4K itself, HDR is the future of all visual media. And for good reason too. HDR at 1080p, is noticeably better looking image, than SDR at 4K. And the combined might of 4K and HDR, is where the true next step forward lies.

And Hollywood knows this too. Have you noticed all the 4K blurays releasing of late? Back in March, the original batch of 4K blurays were just 4K. But within a month, EVERY new 4K bluray release was in HDR.

And on that subject, let’s speak on the consumer electronics industry itself. Back in January at CES, every new 4K television at the show, featured HDR. Come the second half of 2016, we are going to start seeing the market flood itself with HDR ready 4KTVs.

And in the midst of all that, is the lowly Xbox One S – the world’s least expensive 4K blu-ray player . . . and one of only a small handful of 4K players on the market that supports HDR.

Yes, Microsoft truly has hit all the right buttons this time out.

And as for how well received the Xbox One S will be. Pre-orders for the first allotment of the 2TB model (the $400 model), sold out earlier today on Amazon. Not a bad start toward being well received.